Lock control system



July 15, 1969 H. SIMON 3,455,127

I LOCK CONTROL SYSTEM Filed Jan. 25, 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 N EN TO Hwzr wo/v BY 0%(MM1,

ATTOQNE Y6 July 15, 1969 H. SIMON 3,455,127

LOCK CONTROL SYSTEM Filed Jan. 25, 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 /NVENTOI2 Adaee 6wa/v BY 0%MWJZE4M ATTORNEYS United States Patent ice 3,455,127 LOCK CONTROL SYSTEM Harry Simon, 6424 Cottage Grove, Chicago, Ill. 60637 Filed Jan. 25, 1967, Ser. No. 611,755 Int. Cl. E0511 47/04, 15/02 US. Cl. 70-277 9 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A door lock control system including a door opener adapted to maintain a door in a locked condition but responsive to a current flow in an electrical circuit to permit opening of the door. A switch for controlling the flow of current in the circuit at a location remote from the door enables an authorized person to actuate the switch and cause the door opener to release the door. The switch is provided with a timer capable of maintaining the switch in the unlock position for a predetermined period of time of suflicient duration to permit a person to travel from the switch to the door and open the door after actuating the switch.

This invention relates to a lock control system for a door and, more particularly, to a system for controlling the lock of a common entry door in a vestibule of an apartment building or oflice.

Vestibule doors of apartment buildings, i.e., doors which lead from the vestibule to the elevator or individual apartments, at least insofar as recently constructed buildings are concerned, generally have two significant features in common. They open outwardly into the vestibule in conformance with fire safety codes, and they carry a spring loaded lock which includes a cylinder having a core which must be rotated by means of the proper key against the biasing force of the spring to release the lock. The lock is generally associated with a latch disengaged by the turning of a key, the unlocking of the lock being necessary to open the door. In the proper opening of such a door from the vestibule by a single individual, the key is inserted in the lock and rotated with one hand and, while the key is maintained in the rotated position, the door knob is grasped and pulled with the other hand.

Individuals approaching vestibule doors with an armload of packages frequently open the door by pulling on a key inserted and turned in this cylinder. It is possible to open the door in this manner since the key cannot generally be extracted after it has been rotated with the core. However, this practice causes the key to wear rapidly, frequently to such a degree as to permit the removal of the key from the cylinder core while the latter is intermediate a locked and an unlocked position. In such an intermediate position, the cylinder will not accept a different key of another tenant. Thus, because of such practices, these door locks often have a short life, require a considerable amount of expensive maintenance, and are a source of annoyance to the tenants when they fail to operate smoothly and properly.

Accordingly, a general object of the invention is to provide an improved lock control system for a door, such as an entry door in a vestibule of an apartment or oflice building.

Other objects and conditions will become apparent from the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a portion of a vestibule of an apartment building showing various of the features of the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a rear, enlarged elevational view looking in the direction of the arrows 22 of FIGURE 1;

, 3,455,127 Patented July 15, 1969 FIGURE 3 is an enlarged, side elevational view looking in the direction of the arrows of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged, fragmentary sectional View of one of the elements shown in FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 5 is a schematic electrical diagram for the system of FIGURE 1; and

FIGURE 6 is a fragmentary perspective view of a portion of the structures shown in FIGURE 3.

As shown in the drawings, for purposes of illustration, the present invention may be embodied in a conventional lock control system of an apartment building in which a common entry door 7 is hinged for swinging movement in a door opening 3. A door opener 9 mounted in the door jamb 10 of the door opening includes a pivotally mounted retainer 11 which normally cooperates with the bolt 12 of a door lock 13 to secure the door in a closed position and thus prevent unauthorized entry of persons into the apartment areas. Entry may be gained into the apartments by releasing the retainer 11, as hereinafter explained, or by retracting the bolt 12.

In addition, the conventional lock control system illustrated also preferably includes an intercom or other signal system in communication with each apartment so that a person in the vestibule without a key might request entry. Accordingly, provision is made to permit a person in an apartment to actuate the door opener by pivoting the retainer 11 to a position in which it releases the bolt 12, whereby the person in the vestibule may open the door without actually retracting the bolt in the door lock. In conventional systems, release of the retainer is accomplished remotely from each individual apartment by means of an electrical circuit.

Generally, and in accordance with the illustrated embodiment of the present invention, a lock unit 14 having a conventional lock cylinder 15 for receiving a key is additionally provided and is disposed at a location remote from the door 7, such as on a wall adjacent that which contains the door opening 8. Upon the insertion and turning of the key in the lock cylinder, switch contacts 17 (FIGURE 5) having associated therewith a timer 16 (FIGURE 2) are closed for a predetermined period of time to operate solenoids 18 in the door opener 9 to cause the retainer 11 to pivot and release the bolt 12 of the door lock 13. The person with the key may then remove his key from the lock unit, cross the vestibule and open the door by grasping and pulling the door knob. The door lock 13 will still not permit retraction of the bolt 12 but this is not necessary since the bolt is no longer retained by the door opener. After a predetermined period of time, the timer 16 allows the switch 17 to open and the door automatically becomes locked once again.

By virtue of the location of the lock unit 14 at a position remote from or adjacent to the door, persons having packages in their arms may use one hand to turn the key, extract the key, and then use the same hand to grasp and pull the door open by means of the knob. Thus the present invention reduces the temptation to pull the door open by pulling on a key in the door lock.

For emergency use, as in the case of a power failure which would render the system inoperative, the door lock 13 can be operated by the same key as the lock cylinder 15 to release the bolt 12. However, it is believed that the convenience which the remote lock unit 14 provides will discourage the use of the door lock 13 except in an emergency.

The lock unit 14 includes a box-shaped housing 19 suitably fastened to a wall at a location remote from or near the door opening 8. Herein, the housing is formed of a tough, durable metal such as stainless steel and is securely mounted to the wall to prevent access to the rear of the housing. To support the lock, a front wall 21 of the housing is provided with a collar 22 (FIG- UR-E 2) which extends rearwardly into the interior of the housing and which is sized to closely fit about the lock cylinder telescoped into the collar.

In this instance, the lock cylinder 15 is of the wellknown Yale lock construction having an inner core 25 which turns in the cylinder 15 when the key has aligned the pins (not shown) in the lock. The lock is held against turning or sliding axially from the housing by means of a set screw 26 threaded into and through the collar 22 and into an axially extending groove 28 formed on the exterior of the cylindrical surface 29 of the lock cylinder 15. For purposes of assembling the lock, access is provided to the head of the set screw 26 through an opening 30 in the housing aligned with the set screw 26. A screw 31 having a special head which cannot be turned by commonly employed tools is threaded into the opening 30 so that only persons with a special tool may remove the screw 31 to have access to the set screw holding the lock in place in the housing.

A key slot 32 (FIGURE 2) is provided in the cylinder core 25 and the latter extends axially of the cylinder and core. On the rear end wall of the cylinder is fastened an actuator 33 with a radial cam extension or finger 34 which rotates with the cylinder, as for example, from the solid line to the dotted line positions of FIGURE 2. To receive a key, the cylinder core is oriented with the key receiving slot disposed with its long side vertical and with the cam finger upstanding. When a key is inserted and the core is rotated through 180", the cam finger actuates the timer 16, hereinafter described, and opens the associated switch 17 for an adjustable pre-set period of time. The lock cylinder is constructed so that the key can be removed from the cylinder only when the cam finger is disposed upwardly and the key is vertically disposed.

In accordance with an important aspect of the invention, the switch 17 completes an electrical circuit (FIG. 5 for the solenoids 18 of the door opener 9 to rotate the retainer 11 and for a given time period to release the bolt 12 of the door lock. In the present instance, the timer is mechanical and is secured to the inside surface of a vertical side wall 36 (FIGURE 2) of the housing 19. The timer is held beneath the cam finger 34 by a bracket 38 having a vertical arm 39 secured by screws 40 to the wall 36. The screws 40 have heads which also are of unusual shape and are difficult to turn without the use of special tools. A horizontal arm 41 of the bracket has an aperture into which projects an upper end of a cylinder 42 (FIGURE 4). This upper end of the cylinder is externally threaded and lock nuts 44 and 45 are threaded on the cylinder on opposite sides of the bracket arm 41 to secure the timer to the bracket.

The cylinder 42 is disposed vertically Within a bore of a two-piece timer housing 46 and guides an internal piston 48 for vertical reciprocation. Fastened to the lower end of the piston is a driving pin 49 and on the lower end of the pin are fixedly secured plates 50 and 51 spaced on opposite sides of a diaphragm 52. A coiled, compressed spring 54 is disposed between the lower end of the piston 48 and a lower spring seat washer 55, the latter being fastened to the housing at the bottom of the cylinder 42. The pin 49 projects through the spring and the washer. Encircling the pin and disposed beneath the seat washer 55 is a light coiled spring 56 resting on the upper surface of the diaphragm. The diaphragm is a flexible, air-tight member in the form of a sheet of rubber secured about its edges between an upper housing section 58 and a lower housing section 59 to divide a central chamber in the housing into an upper portion 60 and a lower portion 61.

The timer 16 is of the pneumatic kind and begins to function with depression of the piston and diaphragm 52 to expel air through a downward passageway 62, a horizontal passageway 64 and upward passages 65 and 66 in their respective housing sections. When the cam finger 34 depresses the piston 48, the spring 49 urges the piston to extend to its raised position, but the rate of return of the piston is determined by the size of the air orifice controlled by a valve 69 at the juncture of the passageways 64 and 65. That is, the valve controls the rate of flow of the ambient air through the passageways into the lower chamber to neutralize the vacuum in the lower chamber portion 61 so that the spring is able to lift the diaphragm and piston against the ambient air pressure to the position shown in FIGURE 4. The valve 69 includes a stem 70 threaded in a plate 71 secured on a vertical side of the housing and, by turning an external knob 72 on the stem, its inner end is moved to increase or decrease the size of the orifice at the juncture of the passageways 64 and 65. The size of the orifice controls the flow rate of air into the lower chamber 61 and, herein, the period of return of the piston can be varied from approximately zero to thirty seconds in duration by adjusting this restrictive orifice.

The downward movement of the piston 48 operates the switch contacts 17 (FIGURE 5) to energize the solenoid 18 over an obvious circuit, shown in FIGURE 5. The switch contacts are disposed in the interior of a housing 74 (FIGURE 4) fixed to the exterior of the timer housing 46 and a contact actuator in the form of a pin 75 extends horizontally from the switch housing through the horizontal bore in the upper housing section 58 and through an opening in the cylinder to be received in a cam groove 76 formed in the piston. The electrical switch contacts 17 are spring biased to an open position to kee the pin 75 in its leftward position (FIGURE 4) until the same is cammed to the left by the top portion of the cam groove 76.

The switch contacts 17 are connected by suitable leads 78 (FIGURES 1 and 2) into the electrical circuit 79 (FIGURE 5) for energizing the solenoids 18 of the door opener 9. The door opener disclosed herein is of a standard commercially available construction and includes a housing 80 (FIGURE 3) which fits into a suitable recess in the door jamb 10. An outer plate 81 on the housing has an opening 82 to receive the bolt 12 of the door lock 13. The bolt 12 is generally wedge shaped and fits in a complementary wedge or V-shaped groove 85 (FIGURE 6) in the retainer 11 pivotally mounted between vertically spaced horizontal plates 87 of the housing for swinging about a vertical axis on a pivot pin 88. To bias the retainer 11 to a bolt-retaining position, one end of a torsion spring 89 encircling the pivot pin 88 is disposed against a housing wall 90 and the other end is disposed against the retainer.

A pin 91 fixed to the retainer 11 extends downwardly from the lower end of the retainer to engage a locking bar 92 which is pivotally mounted for swinging movement about a vertical axis. The locking bar 92 has an outer free end with a depending tab 94 disposed adjacent an edge 96 of an inclined armature 95 for the solenoids 18. The adjacent edge 96 of the armature 95 blocks the locking plate against pivoted movement so long as the armature is in the inclined position shown in FIGURE 3. When the solenoid coils 18 are energized, however, the armature is pivoted downwardly against the force of a return leaf spring 98 to a position in which the tab 94 is free to pass over the top of the armature. Therefore, after the solenoid coils 18 are energized, a person may pull on the door handle and the door bolt 12 will pivot the retainer 11 to an open releasing position and simultaneously the pin 91 engages the locking bar 92 and pivots its tab 94 over the top of the armature. Then, on release of the solenoids 18, after the torsion spring has pivoted the retainer to its closed position, the leaf spring returns the locking plate to the locking position.

The solenoids 18 of the door opener 9 may also be operated by any one of a series of push button switches 99 (FIGURE 5) each of which would be located in an apartment having an intercom or other signal system. Thus, in response to a request over the intercom at one of the mail boxes, a switch contact 99 is closed at the apartment to energize the solenoids 18 to cause the unlocking of the door opener 9.

In operation, a person entering the vestibule, who has a proper key, will insert the key into the lock cylinder 15 and turn the cylinder core through about 180 to turn the cam finger 34 and depress the piston 48 of the timer 16. The depression of the piston causes the diaphragm 52 to expel much of the air in the lower chamber 61 through upward passages leading to the atmosphere. During this downward stroke of the piston, an actuator pin 75 closes the switch contacts 17 to complete a circuit (FIGURE 5) to the solenoids 18 of the door opener 9.

Operation of the solenoids 18 causes the armature 95 to pivot to a position which will permit the tab 94 on the locking bar 92 to clear the armature so that the retainer 11 will be free to pivot when urged by the bolt 12, as when the door is pulled to open it. The contacts 17 for the solenoids 18 will have remained closed for a predetermined period, as determined by the setting of the valve 69 which restricts the size of the orifice that allows the air to bleed into the lower chamber beneath the diaphragm. As the air bleeds through the valve, the spring 49 causes the position to rise and the cam groove 76 once again allows the pin 75 to move leftwardly (FIGURE 4) to open the contacts 17 to de-energize the solenoids 18. The armature return spring 98 pivots the armature upwardly to block the locking plate and thereby the retainer 11 until the solenoids are again energized.

While the preferred embodiment of the invention has been shown and described, it is to be understood that there is no attempt to limit the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A unit for controlling the operation of an electrical door latch system, said door latch system including a locking latch bolt carried by the door, an electrically operated retainer mounted in a wall adjacent the door opening engageable by the locking bolt and capable of retaining same when the door is closed but movable in response to an electrical signal to release the latch bolt, and circuit means connecting said electrically operated retainer to a source of current; said unit comprising an electrical switch operatively connected in said electrical circuit of the door latch system permitting a flow of current to the retainer when said switch is closed, a lock having a locked and an unlocked condition, said lock being operatively associated with said switch so as to prevent closing of said switch when said lock is in the locked condition, and a timer connected to said electrical switch for maintaining said switch in a position which will assure a flow of current to the retainer for a predetermined period of time after said lock is returned to a locked condition from an unlocked condition.

2. A unit in accordance with claim 1, wherein said lock includes an actuator moved when said lock is changed from a locked to an unlocked condition, wherein said timer includes a member movable by said actuator in one direction and biased for return movement in the opposite direction, wherein said member is connected to said switch so as to close said switch when said member is moved in said one direction and so as to open said switch when said member is moved in said opposite direction, and wherein means are provided for controlling the return movement of said member.

3. A unit in accordance with claim 2, wherein said timer defines an inner chamber, wherein the movable member of said timer is a piston, wherein said piston is connected to a diaphragm efiective to expel air from an inner chamber in said timer when said member is moved in said one direction, and wherein said timer further includes valve means having an orifice restricting the rate of return flow of air into said chamber and thereby the return movement of said member and diaphragm in said opposite direction.

4. A unit in accordance with claim 1, wherein said lock includes a lock cylinder provided with a core rotatable relative thereto, wherein a switch actuator is connected to said cone and rotatable therewith, and wherein means are provided for preventing axial or rotative movement of said lock cylinder relative to said switch.

5. A unit in accordance with claim 4, wherein said means for preventing axial or rotative movement of said lock cylinder includes a sleeve surrounding said lock cylinder,'a supporting collar telescoped about said sleeve and fixed relative to a wall of the building, and means fastening said sleeve to said collar.

6. A unit in accordance with claim 5, wherein said fastening means includes a set screw threaded through said collar into engagement with said lock cylinder, and wherein means are provided to preclude access to said set screw.

7. In a control system for locking and unlocking a door having a locking latch bolt, the combination comprising a retainer for engaging the locking latch bolt so as to maintain the door in a closed position, said retain er being pivotally mounted adjacent said locking latch bolt when the door is closed and being normally prevented from pivotal movement by a latch, electrically operated means for releasing said latch, circuit means connecting said electrically operated means to a source of current, a switch in said circuit permitting a flow of current to the retainer when said switch is closed, a lock having a locked and an unlocked condition, said lock being operatively associated with said switch so as to prevent closing of said switch when said lock is in the locked condition, and a timer connected to said electrical switch for maintaining said switch in a position which will assure a flow of current to the retainer for a predetermined period of time after said lock is returned to a locked condition from an unlocked condition.

8. In a building, the combination of a wall defining a door opening provided with a door jamb, said door opening providing access to a given portion of the building, a door hingedly mounted within said door opening for movement between an open and closed position, a locking latch bolt carried by said door, an electrically operated door opener mounted in the door jamb for engaging and retaining said locking latch bolt when said door is closed but movable so as to release said latch bolt in response to an electrical signal, an electrical circuit connecting said door opener with a source of current, a plurality of switches electrically connected in said circuit permitting a flow of current to the door opener when closed, a lock associated with at least one of said switches and having a locked and an unlocked condition, said lock being operatively associated with said one switch so as to prevent closing of said one switch when said lock is in the locked condition, and a timer connected to said one switch for maintaining said one switch in a position which will assure a flow of current to the door opener for a predetermined period of time after said lock is returned to a locked condition from an unlocked condition.

9. In a building, the combination of a wall defining a door opening provided with a door jam-b, said door opening providing access to a given portion of the building, a door hingedly mounted within said door opening for movement between an open and closed position, a locking latch bolt carried by said door, an electrically operated door opener mounted in the door jamb forengaging and retaining said locking latch bolt when said door is closed but movable so as to release said latch bolt in response to an electrical signal, an electrical circuit connecting said door opener with .a source of current, a switch operatively connected in said circuit permitting a flow of current to the door opener when said switch is closed, said switch being located beyond arms reach of the door and accessible only from a location exteriorly of the given portion of the building, a timer for maintaining said switch in a position which will assure the flow of current through said circuit for a predetermined period of time, and a lock mounted adjacent said switch efiective to preclude operation thereof by unauthorized persons.

1,383,269 6/1921 Fienberg 29234l.16

Jones 70-447X Keil 292341.16 Jewett 70448 Dupere 70-447 Green 70-279 US. Cl. X.R. 

